The hippogriff bears the wings, forelegs,
and head of a great raptor bird and the tail and body of a magnificent
horse. As horses are a preferred meal for griffons, sages claim some
flesh-warping wizard
with an ironic sense of humor long ago created this unfortunate fusion
of horse and hawk as a joke. A hippogriff’s feathers bear coloration
similar to those of a hawk or an eagle; however, some breeders have
managed to produce specimens with stark white or coal black feathers. A
hippogriff’s torso and hind end are most often bay, chestnut, or gray,
with some coats bearing pinto or even palomino coloration. Hippogriffs
measure 11 feet long and weigh upward of 1,500 pounds.

Territorial, hippogriffs fiercely protect
the lands under their domain. Hippogriffs must also watch the skies for
other predators, as they are a preferred meal of griffons, wyverns, and
young dragons.
Hippogriffs nest in sweeping grasslands, rugged hills, and flowing
prairies. Exceptionally hardy hippogriffs make their home nestled into
niches on canyon walls, from which they comb the rocky deserts for
coyotes, deer, and the occasional humanoid. Hippogriffs prefer mammalian prey, yet they graze after every meal of flesh to aid
their digestion. Their dietary habits can be dangerous to both ranchers
and their livestock, so ranching communities often set bounties on
them. Victims of these hunts are often taxidermied, and preserved
hippogriffs frequently decorate frontier taverns and remote outposts.

Far easier to train than griffons, yet
easily as intelligent as horses, hippogriffs are trained as mounts by
some elite companies of mounted soldiers, patrolling the skies and
swooping down on unsuspecting enemies. Although they are magical beasts,
if captured young, hippogriffs can be trained using Handle Animal as if they were animals.
An adult hippogriff is more difficult to train, and attempts to do so
follow the normal rules for training magical beasts using the skill. A
hippogriff saddle must be specially crafted so as to not impact the
movement of the creature’s wings—these saddles are always exotic
saddles.

Hippogriffs lay eggs rather than birthing
live young—as a general rule, a hippogriff nest only contains one egg at
a time. A hippogriff’s egg is worth 200 gp, but a healthy young
hippogriff is worth 500 gp. A fully trained hippogriff mount can command prices of up to 5,000 gp or more. A hippogriff can carry 198 pounds as a light load, 399 pounds as a medium load, and 600 pounds as a heavy load.